Nguyen Tri Phuong Hospital provides free screening for children with slow growth in height.

SGGPO 06/05/2023 15:24

From June 17 to July 9, the Department of Endocrinology, Nguyen Tri Phuong Hospital, organized the program "Free screening for slow growth in children" to support free screening for all pre-pubescent children suspected of being shorter than their age.

Accordingly, the screening program is applied to pre-pubescent children, including steps to check height, weight and survey symptoms of growth retardation to provide appropriate treatment solutions. Children are also X-rayed of the hand bones when indicated to assess bone age. From there, the doctor will advise on whether the child's height development is normal or abnormal.

Cases of suspected stunted growth will be guided through the next steps, including blood tests to accurately quantify growth hormone and other related hormones in the body.

Parents can call to register via hotline 0335 116 057 or 0932 714 440 between 8am and 5pm every day of the week from June 5 to July 3. Screening time is from 1pm to 4pm on Saturday and 8am to 11am on Sunday every week from June 17 to July 9 at 3rd floor, area A - Nguyen Tri Phuong Hospital (468 Nguyen Trai, Ward 8, District 5).

According to medical experts, normally, newborns are 48-52cm tall, growing about 20-25cm in the first year, 12cm in the second year, 10cm in the third year, and 7cm in the fourth year. From the age of 4 onwards, parents need to pay more attention to their child's height growth rate. From the age of 4 to 11, children will grow an average of 4-6cm per year. When they reach puberty, girls grow about 6-10cm per year. Boys grow from 6.5-11cm per year.

In case the child does not reach the height growth milestones according to each age, parents should immediately think about taking the child to see a doctor and screen for early growth retardation. There are many factors that influence the height development of children, including: genetics, nutrition, living environment, lifestyle, physical exercise, slow growth due to lack of growth hormone (GH)... Of which, genetic factors cannot be changed.

In particular, the case of slow growth due to GH deficiency is estimated to only account for about 1/3000 - 1/4000 in the world, but this is one of the important causes of slow growth in children and is very difficult to detect. If not treated, children with GH deficiency have an average height of only 135 - 145 cm, much lower than the maximum height that can be achieved. This not only affects the child's future work and life, but can also affect the child's psychology due to inferiority complex.

Launched in 2017, the program has provided free screening for more than 2,000 children. The total number of children diagnosed with growth hormone deficiency is nearly 200. This year, the program is expected to receive more than 400 children for examination and implementation during the examination.

Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/benh-vien-nguyen-tri-phuong-tam-soat-mien-phi-cho-tre-cham-tang-truong-chieu-cao-post692519.html